Countertenor Daniel Moody has garnered widespread acclaim for his commanding yet expressive vocal timbre and his breathtaking musicianship. Praised as having a “vocal resonance, [which] makes a profoundly startling impression” (The New York Times) and for his “vivid and powerful” voice (The Boston Musical Intelligencer), Mr. Moody is equally known for his “sweet and melancholy sound” (The Washington Post) and ability to “pierce hearts” and “utterly silence a room” (The Boston Musical Intelligencer) with his expressivity and connection with audiences.

 

Mr. Moody recently made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Brett Dean’s Hamlet in the role of Rosenkranz where he later returned to cover Countertenor 3 in El Niño and Man Under the Arch/Hotel Clerk in The Hours. He also recently sang Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Vancouver Opera, Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea with Cincinnati Opera, and Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare at Atlanta Opera.  His 2024-25 season includes engagements with the Alabama Symphony, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Le Violons du Roy, Memphis Symphony, Four Nations Baroque Ensemble, InSeries Opera, Three Notch’d Road, Staunton Music Festival’s BaroqueFest, and a residency at Augustana University’s School of Music.

 

Last season saw Mr. Moody cover Arsace in Partenope at San Fransico Opera, sing Solo Alto Ensemble in Acis and Galatea with the Philharmonia Baroque, and complete a residency at the Marlboro Music Festival.  He also gave a Dinner with Handel concert with the Portland Baroque Orchestra under the baton of Julian Perkins and was the alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Oratorio Society of New York and The Trey Clegg Singers. 

 

A sought after Handelian, Moody’s operatic credits include the title role in Rinaldo and Narciso in Agrippina with Opera Neo; the title role in Orlando, Lichas in Hercules and Didymous in Theodora with Staunton Music Festival; and Arsamene in Xerses with Pittsburgh Festival Opera.  Mr. Moody drew attention in the role of Rinaldo from the San Diego Story for his unusually powerful tone: “[Mr. Moody] may help to create a new operatic vocal category: Helden-Countertenor.” He has showcased his artistry in a variety of celebrated productions, including Mark Morris’ interpretations of Britten’s Curlew River and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House and the Tanglewood Music Festival, where the Financial Times praised his “inspired and absorbing performances.”

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A champion of contemporary music, Moody performed the American premiere of George Benjamin’s Dream of the Song under the baton of Stefan Asbury at Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary Music. He has also been featured in several world premieres, including Jorge Sosa’s Alice in the Pandemic with White Snake Projects—a groundbreaking live performance in cyberspace—and Elena Ruehr’s Cosmic Cowboy. Other notable roles include Man #1 in Hannah Lash’s three-person opera Desire with the JACK Quartet at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre and Special Weapons Officer in Peter Knell and Stephanie Fleischmann’s Arkhipov, conducted by Daniela Candillari.

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Mr. Moody is a frequent soloist of leading symphonic and baroque orchestras, including Apollo’s Fire, Minnesota Orchestra, Cincinnati Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Philharmonia Baroque, and Les Violons du Roy. His appearance with Philharmonia Baroque alongside mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and conductor Nicholas McGegan was described as a “combination of tenderness and theatrical verve” (San Francisco Chronicle). He has worked with such conductors as Bernard Labadie, Nicholas Carter, David Hill, Nicholas Kramer, Ken Lam, Robert Moody, Thomas Søndergård, Jeannette Sorrell, Kent Tritle, and Gary Wedow.

 

A graduate of the prestigious Yale Voxtet – resident at Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music – he has performed as a soloist with conductors David Hill, Simon Carrington, Masaaki Suzuki, and Matthew Halls and performances have been broadcast live in concert on BBC Radio 3 in the United Kingdom, Boston’s WGBH, Indiana’s WFIU, and WSHU’s Sunday Baroque.

 

Mr. Moody holds a BM from Peabody Conservatory, a MM from Yale School of Music/Institute of Sacred Music. Moody has received awards from the George London Competition, Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Handel Aria Competition, New York Oratorio Society Competition, and Russell Wonderlic Competition.